Process of making knitted fabric



2 sheets-sheet 1 INVENTOR John Murphj s. W

ATTORNEYS Feb. 19, 1935. J, H. MURPHY PROCESS OF MAKING KNITTED FABRICv IFiled sept. 11, 1955 FIS 0 9 H'ZO 3 .5 1@ l1 Feb. 19, 1935.

J, H; MURPHY PROCESS OF MAKING KNITTED FABRIC 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Sept. ll, 1933 Slm@ ATTORNEYS Patented Ferm, 1935 1,992,012

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE PROCESS OF MAKING KNITTED FABRIC John H. Murphy, Cohoes, N. Y., assignor to Putnam Knitting Company, Cohoes, N. Y., a corporation of New York Application September 11, 1933, Serial No. 688,899

1 Claim.

This invention relates to knitted fabric.

The purpose of my present invention is to provide a knitted fabric of new and improved construction and generally to provide a knitted fabric which has a relatively open or porous body and a heavy supply of outwardly extending, separate terry loops causing the fabric to be readily absorbent and adapting it to be used as a wash cloth or towel and yet with the knitted fabric so made as to be substantially free from distortion, that is practically unstretchable transversely of the wales of the stitches notwithstanding the openness of the body of the fabric and the looseness of the terry loops.

A further and particular purpose is to provide a knitted fabric which satisfactorily combines the features; firstly, of having a basic web of such construction as to admit of having easily and durably placed therein a heavy proportion of terry threads having terry loops of considerable length extending regularly from one side of the fabric (called herein for convenience and deflniteness the back of the fabric); secondly, of having the basic web of such form and these terry loops of such number, construction and arrangement therein that a terry loop projects preferably from each mesh of the basic web at the back of the fabric but with the terry loops of any given terry thread projecting only from alternate meshes whereby the appreciable length of the many terry threads that are in the body of the fabric between the projecting loops thereof helps to hold the said loops permanently in place; and thirdly, to have the basic web of such form and the terry threads so placed therein that a further or third series of threads (called herein the weft threads) may be placed in the fabric as nearly straight as the character of the fabric and of the operation will allow so that after the fabric is removed from the machine and the initial contraction of the fabric takes place the weft threads will be in the form of gently undulating lines and after the nishing and lateral stretching processes have taken place the weft threads will be practically without curves and will extend transversely of the rows of stitches so as to be unstretchable and yet so strongly held to the body of the fabric as to make the fabric unstretchable lengthwise of said weft threads.

A further purpose of the invention is to point out a process or method of making a knit fabric which when finished will have the characteristics and advantages therein set forth.

Further purposes and advantages of this invention will appear from the specification and claims herein.

In the drawings, Figs. 1, 2 and 3 represent the fabric as ultimately completed and ready for use in the making of Wash cloths, towels and the like-in other words, after both the knitting proper and the initial contraction and also the nishing and stretching steps have been performed while Fig. 4 represents the fabric (but with the terry threads removed as in Fig. 2) after being knitted and after the initial contraction on release from the needles has taken place but before the stretching of the finishing operation has taken place and so with the weft threads in gently undulating lines due to the said initial contraction of the fabric. The gently undulating line of the weft thread, is as nearly straight as the process of knitting the fabric as a whole will admit, and so nearly straight that after the finishing and lateral stretching processes of the fabric have been performed, the said undulating lines of the weft thread will have been drawn out again practically to straight lines and will thereby set a limit to any further stretching of the fabric lengthwise of the weft threads or transversely of the rows of stitches and so will make the completed or finished fabric practically inelastic or unstretchable lengthwise of the weft threads. I may say that in fabric produced by me according to this process the fabric after being knitted and after initial contraction due to release from the needles, is stretched lengthwise of the weft threads about twelve to fourteen per cent to produce the ultimate fabric ready for use as shown in Figs. 1 to 3.

It will be understood, however, that this extent of finishing stretch is simply stated as a known and satisfactory amount and that my invention is not limited by this statement further than the art or the appended claims require. It will be apparent that the weft threads may be placed in the original fabric under greater tension and so will require less stretching of the fabric to produce an unstretchable fabric of the kind in question or that by using less tension upon the weft thread a greater stretching of the original fabric will be required to straighten out the weft threads. In other words the original fabric as illustrated and described herein and the approximate percentage of stretching thereof to form the ultimate fabric is what I now consider the preferred form of my invention.

Fig. 1 is a view of the rear or fleecing loop side of a piece of fabric embodying the preferred form of my invention, the drawing showing the fabric on a greatly enlarged scale and with the vertical rows of stitches and the lateral courses of stitches shown even more extended and all the threads more separated so as to more clearly and derlnitely show the construction of the fabric.

Fig. 2 is a view similar to Fig. 1, but with all the terry threads removed in order to show more clearly the construction of the basic fabric and the location and arrangement of the weft threads.

Fig. 3 is a view similar to Fig. 1, but with the weft thread removed in order to show more clearly the location and arrangement of the terry threads and their loops.

Fig. 4 is a view similar to Fig. 2, that is with the terry threads removed but of the fabric as originally knitted and showing the gently undulating lines of the weft threads extending through two adjacent series of meshes which form a serpentine zone or band across the fabric.

Referring to the drawings in a more particular description it will be seen that the fabric embodying this invention may be said to have three parts, namely; a basic web 7, terry threads 8 and 9 and weft threads 10'.

In the preferred form of my invention the basic web 7 is knitted from two needle threads 11 and 12 conveniently knitted at alternate feeds upon alternate needles and so knitted that the needle thread 11, indicated on the drawings by the lighter shades of the needle threads, forms vertical rows of stitches as 13 and 13 with the vertical wales 15 of said rows appearing at the front of the fabric as alternate wales of the fabric and with the connecting threads or legs 16 appearing at the back of the fabric. Similarly, the other needle thread 12, being indicated on the drawings as the mork darkly shaded needle thread of the fabric, forms vertical rows of stitches as 17 and 117 with the vertical wales 19 of said rows appearing at the front of the fabric as alternate wales of the fabric and with the connecting threads or legs 20 appearing at the back of the fabric.

I'he structure formed by each needle thread is intermeshed or interlaced with the structure formed by the other needle thread by each needle thread having its connecting portion or leg caught into the junction points of the vertical intervening row of stitches of the other thread. Due to a laterally extending course of stitches of one needle thread being made at another time than the adjoining course of stitches formed by the other needle thread and due to this interlacing of the connecting portions or legs of one needle thread into the junction points of the rows of stitches of the other needle thread, the junction points of a course of stitches of one needle thread will not be in a horizontal line with the junction point of the stitches upon either side thereof, but will be offset or half way between the junction point of two adjacent courses of the other needle thread. In other words, the needle thread 11 which forms alternate vertical rows of stitches 13 and 13 will have its connecting threads or legs 16 go upwardly in a slanting or diagonal direction into the junction point of two adjacent stitches of an intervening row 17 of the other needle thread 12 and then said connecting thread or leg will slant downwardly to a stitch formed by thread 11. In the same way a connecting thread or leg 20 of the other or more darkly shaded needle thread 12 will pass upwardly from one row 17 through the junction point of a row of stitches 13 of the needle thread 11 and then will slant downwardly going to the junction point of the row of stitches 17 therebeyond formed by this needle thread l2. It will thus be seen that back of the length of any needle loop, that is the wale portion thereof at the front, there will be in the fabric at the back a more or less diamond-shaped or lozenge-shaped mesh 14 or 18. A mesh 14 will be back of a needle loop or wale 15 of thread 11 and its lower diagonals will be formed by two separate halves of two connecting threads or legs 16 of the thread 11 and its upper diagonals will be formed by one connecting thread or leg 20 of thread 12 extending between two stitches in the rows 17 adjoining the row 13 to the right and left respectively.

Similarly a mesh 18 will be back of a needle loop or wale 17 of thread 12 and its lower diagonals will be formed by two separate halves of two connecting threads or legs 20 of the thread 12 and its upper diagonals will be formed by one connecting thread or leg 16 of thread 11 extending between two stitches in the rows 13 adjoining the row 17 to the right and left respectively.

It will be understood that each diagonal part of each connecting thread or leg helps to form two meshes one located on each of the opposite sides of said diagonal length of a connecting thread or leg.

It will be seen that a unit of this basic web of the fabric is a laterally extending course of stitches formed by the lighter colored needle thread 11 and an adjoining laterally extending course of stitches formed by the more darkly colored needle thread 12 and that a length of the fabric is produced by repeating this unit as long as needed.

In each such unit of the basic web there are placed a terry thread 8 and a terry thread 9 and a weft thread 10. In practice I may say that preferably one terry thread is introduced into the fabric at the feed that produces one of the laterally extending courses of stitches of the unit and the other terry thread is introduced at the feed producing the other course of stitches ofthe unit and further that the single weft thread of the unit is introduced into the fabric at one of the two feeds used to produce the unit. The result produced in the complete fabric is that each of the two terry threads extend through two adjoining meshes namely 14 and 18, but in these two adjoining meshes one terry thread has a projecting loop only in one mesh while the other terry thread has a projecting loop only in the other mesh.

As shown in the drawings the terry thread 8 has its loop 21 project out from the meshes 14 at the back of the fabric and back of the wales 15 in the rows 13 of stitches formed by the needle thread l1 and this terry thread then extends diagonally upward slightly and to the right and left underneath connecting threads or legs 20 into and through meshes 18 to the right and left respectively and then still underneath another connecting thread or leg 20 and slightly downwardly into meshes 14 to the right and left respectively of and in line with the mesh 14 from which the line of this thread was traced. It will be understood that in each of these two meshes 14 so reached the terry thread 8 will make another outwardly-projecting loop 21.

On the other hand but similarly the other terry thread 9 has its loop 22 project out from the other meshes 18 at the back of the fabricand back of the wales 19 in the rows 17 of stitches formed by the needle thread 12 and this terry thread then extends diagonally upward and to the right and left underneath connecting threads or legs 16 and into and through meshes 14 to the right and left respectively, then still underneath another connecting thread or leg 16 and slightly downwardy into meshes 18 to the right and left respectively of and in line with the mesh 18 from which the line of this thread was traced. It will be understood also that in each of these two meshes 18 so reached the terry thread 9 will make another outwardly projecting loop 22.

As already stated the weft thread 10 is introduced into the fabric in my preferred form at one only of the two feeds forming said unit of the fabric. This results in only one weft thread 10 extending through each mesh 14 and 18. As the fabric completed viz: knitted and stretched to finished form is illustrated in the drawings in Fig. 1, but in Fig. 2 with the terry threads removed for the purpose of more clearly showing the number and location of these weft threads, it will be seen that the weft threads 10 extend substantially straight across the fabric back of the wales 15 and 19 of vertical rows of stitches 13 and 17 and in front of the connecting threads 16 and 20 of said rows of stitches. The expressions back of the Wales and in front of the connecting threads have reference to the general practice of calling the wall side the front of the fabric and in distinction from the drawings Figs. 1, 2 and 3 all showing the back of the fabric. In brief, the weft thread is between the wales and the connecting threads. As will particularly appear from Figs. 1 and 2 of the drawings a given weft thread passes laterally in about a straight line through rst a mesh 14 and then a mesh 18 and then a mesh 14 and then a mesh 18 and so on. It will be seen that all the meshes 18 so passed through are in a straight course laterally of the fabric and that all the meshes 14 are in a straight course laterally of the fabric. Also it will be seen that the meshes 14 and 18 of these two courses are offset relative to each other the distance of half the vertical height of a mesh and so form a serpentine band as it were with the several meshes 14, diagonally above and fitting down into the two adjacent meshes 18. But due to the weft thread going through the lower part of the meshes 14 and through the meshes 18 at about their central part or a little above their central part, the said weft threads maintain a substantially straight line. The straightness of these weft threads is especially noticeable after the flnishing and stretching processes have been carried out upon the original knitted fabric, resulting in the relative construction and arrangement of the parts shown in Figs. 1 and 2 of the drawings as compared with the original gently undulating lines of the weft thread in Fig. 4.

It will now be seen that these practically straight weft threads in the finished fabric will limit any stretching of the fabric crosswise of the rows of stitches to such a small possible percentage as to render the fabric practically unstretchable.

As I have produced this fabric on a circular knitting machine, the original fabric after its original contraction when laid down flat and so double measures twenty-two inches across making a total width of the cloth of forty-four inches. The fabric is then put through the usual finishing processes and particularly through a process of lateral stretching which results in the width of the double tube becoming twenty-five inches or a total width of cloth of fifty inches, thus showing a stretch laterally of about thirteen and six-tenths per cent. 'I'his stretch is permanent and leaves the weft threads practically straight, but does not otherwise affect or dis- 20 tort the peculiar form of the basic web nor the form of the fleecing threads both of which could be stretched a great deal more were it not for the restraint imposed by the weft threads.

It will now be seen that I have produced a new article of manufacture of the class described and having the advantages and characteristics mentioned and that I have pointed out the process or method of producing the same.

What I claim as new and desire to secure by 3o Letters Patent is:

The method of forming a terry, knitted fabric which is inelastic transversely of the rows of stitches, which consists of knitting a terry-reenforced fabric comprising a basic web knit of two separate needle threads, each knitted at separate successive feeds, each thread forming alternate vertical rows of stitches with the wales all on one side and all the connecting legs on the other side of the fabric and with the legs of adjacent rows of stitches of either thread approximately equal in length and similar in angular position and enclosed within the half-course offset junction points of the intervening row of stitches of the other thread, said legs forming offset, interfitting diamond-shaped meshes, feeding a terry thread into the knitting at each feed. and drawing a loop therein at its own feed and feeding a re-enforcing weft thread into the knitting at the feeds of one needle thread whereby each weft thread is placed in the fabric back of two adjacent lateral courses of said meshes and so originally in an undulating line, and lastly permanently stretching the fabric crosswise of the rows of stitches sufficiently to cause said weft threads to be substantially straight whereby further stretching of the fabric in use is pre- Vented.

JOHN H. 

